


You're not in this alone

by Stray_Anpanman



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: A very small amount of angst, Fluff and Fluff, but then even more fluff so its ok, chan is overworked and the members want to take care of him, im sorry i suck at tags, this is my first fic, very slight woochan and minsung if you squint really hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 08:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15215441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stray_Anpanman/pseuds/Stray_Anpanman
Summary: Chan wants to work harder for their comeback but he has a tendency to overdo it. The members aren't as oblivious as they let on. They're not going to let their leader do this alone. They formulate a plan.





	You're not in this alone

Chan had a tendency to overwork himself. Sometimes he felt like he had to or he would never accomplish all the work he needed to get done. He was the leader of their group and as the leader he knew that he had to shoulder some extra responsibility compared to the other members. He was fine with this if it meant the others could relax even just a little bit more. Of course he trusted each and everyone of them with every fibre of his being but he hated to see any of them exhausted or in pain in any way. The agony that they had to endure during their survival show when Minho and Felix were eliminated was something that neither he nor his members ever wanted to experience again. That’s why Chan would take on a little extra work for the sake of his members, so that they didn’t feel overwhelmed or perhaps think that they were failing or letting their team down.

 

He sat in the practice room of the JYP building, clicking on his mouse again, trying to finish editing another song for their impending comeback. They were so close to completing their set list for their new album and Chan was more than satisfied with their new songs. They were good. No, they were great. The fact that each and every member had contributed to this album in some way made the songs more meaningful and powerful in Chan’s opinion. However, this final song was proving to be more than a little challenging. Why wouldn’t it come out the way he wanted? The dull pain in this head wasn’t doing anything to improve his mood nor his ability to edit the song. He dragged his fingers through his messy, unkempt curls sighing heavily as he did so. He needed to finish this. His members were depending on him. They trusted him to get this done. So Chan kept working for a while longer into the early hours of the morning yet he still didn’t get where he wanted to be with the new song.

 

He didn’t notice how late (or early in the morning) it was until he took a break to use the bathroom and the sunlight caught his attention through the window. There were no windows in the practice rooms so it never entered his mind that he had worked through the night. Damn, his members would probably be wondering where he was. He had put his phone on silent so that he could focus more on fixing the song. He fished the phone out of his back pocket. Yep, there it was. 9 missed calls and 27 unopened messages all asking if Chan was alright and where he was. He let out a chuckle at how worrisome his members were but at the same time thanked whatever deity was out there for letting him debut with these eight boys that he saw as nothing less than his brothers. They were family and nothing would ever change that. He could finish up this song at home so after returning from the bathroom, he gathered up his notebook full of lyrics and closed his laptop before placing them in his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder and heading back to the dorms.

 

At 6 a.m. Chan quietly turned the doorknob to the shared dorms, slipped off his shoes and dropped his backpack. He tiptoed through the living room so as to not wake up the sleeping members. What Chan didn’t know though was that none of the members were sleeping so when Chan accidentally stubbed his toe on the coffee table and let out a small curse due to the pain, numerous heads peaked around the bedroom doors to see what the noise was. When Chan’s eyes met with those of his members, there were numerous shouts of something between worry and relief. Chan smiled sheepishly as Woojin glared at him. While looking at Woojin though, he hadn’t noticed Jisung bolt at him to envelop him in a hug which ended with both of them lying on the floor due to the impact.

 

“Where the hell have you been, young man?”  

 

“Jisung he’s still your hyung, address him as such. Even though he’s a very inconsiderate one who made all of us worry throughout the night.” Minho chimed with a slightly mischievous grin.

 

“Ok then, where the hell have you been…...hyung?” Jisung corrected himself, still looking at Chan with a very unimpressed expression.

 

“I’m sorry guys. I was working in the practice room and I just lost track of time. I put my phone on silent so that I could focus and didn’t hear any of the notifications. I didn’t mean to make you guys worry, really. I’m sorry, ok?” Chan pouted hoping that his playful expression would make his members soften and forgive him. He hoped they would let it go soon. The headache that had begun earlier was now starting to become somewhat unbearable due to his exhaustion. It worked to an extent when the members started to smile slightly at him.

 

“Next time just let us know where you are before disappearing.” Changbin scolded trying to mask the relief in his voice now that Chan had returned.

 

“I promise. I won’t let it happen again” he smiled. “Now if you guys don’t mind, I’m gonna go to my room and try to finish this track.” he got up from the floor where he was still sitting with Jisung. He picked up his backpack and walked to his bedroom as the members looked after him. Though most of the members had smiled when Chan apologized, Woojin’s glare had not softened. He knew what Chan was doing. He was exerting himself again and putting on a smiley face as to not worry his members. As the members dispersed and returned to their rooms to catch up on the sleep they missed out on while worrying about Chan, Jisung approached Woojin.

 

“Hyung? I think Chan hyung might be running a fever.”

 

Woojin whipped his head around to look at the younger. “Why do you think that Jisungie?” he inquired.

 

“Well, when I hugged him, I put my hands around his neck and he felt like he was burning up. He’s overworking himself again, isn’t he?” Jisung asked worriedly.

 

“He thinks we’re not observant enough to notice something like this but we’re not going to let him do this to himself again. He needs to trust us a bit more with sharing the workload. He has to learn to relax a little bit and perhaps understand how to sleep for more than an hour at a time. Don’t you think so?” Woojin directed the question towards Jisung even though he pretty much knew the reply the younger would give. With an enthusiastic nod, Jisung agreed with his hyung.

 

“So what are we going to do about it?” Jisung questioned.

 

Woojin’s face finally softened. “We’re going to make it so that he doesn’t have time to worry about work because there is only one thing he worries about more than work and that’s us.”

 

Jisung tilted his head in confusion. Woojin wanted to make Chan worry about the members instead? Wouldn’t that be totally pointless if they wanted him to relax and rest? Jisung couldn’t quite work out what his hyung was trying to say. Woojin smiled at Jisung.

 

“Ok, this is the plan and I’m relying on you to relay this to the rest of the maknae line alright?” Woojin ordered.

 

“Sir, yes sir” Jisung replied while raising his right hand in the best military salute he could muster. Woojin pulled Jisung over to the couch where he went through, in a hushed whisper, step by step what he wanted each of the members to do. A smile spread across Jisung’s face when he finally understood Woojin’s plan. He was indeed a smart hyung. After their conversation, Jisung high-fived Woojin before quietly making his way to the Millenium room to let his members know of the plan while Woojin did the same for Changbin and Minho. He didn’t know how well this plan would work but Chan looked so exhausted, Woojin thought, that he probably wouldn’t even notice there was anything going on. Once they all knew of the plan, they settled in for a few hours sleep before they put it into action.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Chan tapped the pen against his notebook trying to concentrate on fixing the problems in the song. However, Chan couldn’t seem to pinpoint what exactly the problems were. He just couldn’t figure out what was bugging him. Maybe he was being over critical or maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t slept in over 24 hours. He was thankful that Changbin hadn’t come back to the room they shared to sleep but it did leave him wondering where the young rapper was sleeping instead.  He put the pen down and buried his head in his hands. God he felt so useless in times like this. It shouldn’t be this hard yet Chan was struggling so much. Not just with this song but with everything in general. Lately he always felt he was behind, that everything he did could be better in one way or another. His members were doing so well, all of them, so he didn’t want to burden them with the troublesome thoughts of self-loathing. As he became lost in these thoughts, a knock came on his door. He wiped away the tears that were starting to pool in the corners of his eyes and straightened himself up calling for the person to come in. Felix poked his head around Chan’s door with a shining smile adorning his freckled face.

 

“Hey hyung, could I ask you something?”

 

“Sure Felix, come on in. What’s on your mind?” Chan patted the seat next to him as an indication for Felix to sit.

 

Felix stared at Chan. Jisung was right when he said Chan didn’t look well. The leader’s eyes were bloodshot and little beads of sweat were present on his forehead. He hated seeing Chan like this especially when he knew Chan was doing this for them. He shook his head.

 

“I’m struggling a bit with my studies, hyung” Chan looked at Felix seriously as he hung his head trying to look as dejected as possible. “I was just wondering, if you’re not too busy, if you could help me. I usually ask Minho hyung but he’s not here at the moment. I know I’m annoying you by asking but…”

 

Chan cut Felix off immediately. “Felix, you could never annoy me. I know how hard you try learning Korean and I am always here to help you if you need me. I-” Chan stopped. He looked at the notebook and laptop out of the corner of his eye. He needed to finish this song but his members came first. Felix needed him and he wasn’t going to send him away. He took Felix’s hand and the boy smiled brightly once again. The younger Aussie lead his leader to the living room where his workbook was. They sat together as Felix completed his tasks (with relative ease) and Chan corrected his mistakes. In a matter of hours, Felix finished his lesson with a sigh of relief and turned to Chan.

 

“Thank you hyung. You really helped me out a lot.”

 

“Felix, what are you talking about? I didn’t do anything. I literally just sat here and relaxed for the past two hours and watched you. Your skills are becoming very impressive. You’ve improved so much in such a short amount of time. You’re doing really well” the leader complimented. Felix grinned back at the leader and thanked him again anyway. Chan stood and stretched.

 

“Well, if you don’t need me anymore, I’m going to go back to working on the songs for the new album.” Chan commented. Felix smiled at him and Chan felt like Felix knew something that he didn’t. Felix jumped up and went to his room while Chan went in the opposite direction to his. He sat at his desk and went to start up his computer again. However, it had run out of battery. Luckily, he had saved everything before he went to help Felix so he went to reach for his charger...which wasn’t there. That was strange. He had it in his bag earlier, he was sure of that. He looked around his desk in case he has absentmindedly taken it out earlier. He hadn’t but as he looked for his charger, he noticed that his notebook was also missing from the table. Was he going insane? He was so sure that he had left it on his desk. What the hell was happening? Just as he was trying to remember if he had left it in the practice room, another knock came on his door. He thought it might be Felix but instead, this time, Seungmin appeared.

 

“Hey hyung, are you busy?” Seungmin inquired.

 

 _Busy going insane_ Chan thought. “No Seungminnie, come on in.”

 

Seungmin stood in front of Chan, playing with his fingers as if he was embarrassed. He looked like he wanted to pour out his thoughts but was hesitant. Chan looked at the red haired boy with a soft look in his eyes. Seungmin was never a talkative person, even though he could be really loud with the rest of the maknae line when he wanted to be.

 

“Seungminnie, what’s on your mind?”

 

“Hyung would you be able to take a walk with me? I feel like I have a few things I’d like to get off my chest and discuss, if that’s ok with you.”

 

Chan spun his head around to his desk again and looked for his missing items. Maybe he had left them in the practice room and was just too sleep deprived to notice. If he helped Seungmin out, he could get them on the way back and finish the song. Besides, Seungmin’s problems were more important than the song anyway. He stood up and placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders.

 

“Sure Seungminnie. Where do you want to go to talk?”

 

“How about down by the river? It’s really peaceful, I think I’ll be able to get everything off of my chest there.” Seungmin stated. So that’s what they did. They put on their shoes and headed to the Han river where the sun was shining. It was almost noon and very few people were around except for a few kids playing and couples walking their dogs. Seungmin and Chan walked side by side and when Seungmin felt comfortable, he started talking about some doubts he had about himself.

 

“Hyung, do you think I’m good enough to be in this group?” Chan immediately stopped walking and grabbed Seungmin’s sleeve.

 

“Seungmin, what are you talking about? How can you even ask a question like that? Of course you deserve to be here. Just like everyone else in this group.” Chan stated, still holding onto Seungmin’s sleeve. Seungmin smiled sadly and looked at his shoes.

 

“It’s just...every so often I think back to PD-nim’s comment about me when he said that I’m ok at everything but there’s nothing that makes me stand out. Sometimes I think that he was right.”

 

Chan thought back to the reality show when JYP had made that comment towards Seungmin and how he felt that it was completely unfair towards the young boy. Seungmin, just like all the other members, worked so hard. His voice was angelic and incredible. Chan could listen to Seungmin’s voice for hours so when JYP had complimented Seungmin on his ability in the final episode of the show, Chan felt so incredibly proud that the boy was finally being recognised for his incredible talent but here he was doubting himself again. Chan grabbed Seungmin’s hands and made the younger look at him.

 

“Don’t ever doubt yourself Seungminnie. You have so many incredible talents. It’s not just your voice, which is amazing let me just say that, but so many other things too. You deserve to be here. I would never lie to you about that. I chose you to be part of this group because I believe in your skills and abilities. You’re amazing Seungmin, don’t ever forget that. Please.” Chan finished.

 

Seungmin laughed slightly. The whole reason they were on this walk was to get Chan out of the dorm for some fresh air. That was Seungmin’s part of the plan but somehow he ended up spilling some of his doubts and being comforted by his amazing leader. Chan was trying to hide that he wasn’t feeling well, though it was so blatantly obvious to Seungmin as it would be to the other members too. He felt arms placed around him which snapped him from his thoughts as he realised he was being hugged by Chan. He leaned into the leader and hugged back. They eventually separated and they smiled at each other.

 

“Well why don’t we head back? I have to stop by the JYP building though so I’ll leave you go to the dorm first, ok?” Chan stated. Seungmin nodded and they walked back some of the way together. Seungmin was texting just as they reached where they were parting. Seungmin waved to his leader and thanked him again as he walked away. Chan just needed to go to the practice room he was in earlier and look for his lost items. Before he could walk towards the building, someone hopped on his back causing Chan to almost lose his balance.

 

“Jisung will you get off of him? You might break his back, you know, because of his old age.”

 

Chan glared at the so called ‘dark rapper’ and took a swing with Jisung still hanging from his back. He missed of course. Damn Changbin and his quick reflexes. Not that Chan had really wanted to hit Changbin, not now anyway.

 

“What are you guys doing here?” Chan asked.

 

“We were actually on our way to the new coffee shop down the street. Apparently they have this drink called a ‘double caramel cookie and cream latte’ and I really really REALLY want to try it” Jisung said excitedly showing no indication of getting off of Chan’s back.

 

“You can almost feel the cavities forming just from the name” Changbin smirked. “Hyung, you should come with us.” Chan didn’t have time for this. He needed to get his charger and notebook and head back and finish the song. Changbin could see the hesitation in Chan’s eyes and interjected before he could retaliate with excuses.

 

“Please hyung, I don’t know if I can handle Jisung on my own. I may not be able to stop him from getting multiple lattes. With that much sugar, Jisung may become unstoppable and a danger to us all” Changbin claimed dramatically with a hand over his heart. Jisung gasped in fake offence. They were going to keep him away from the dorm and from overworking himself and that was that.

 

“Please, pretty please, hyung.” Changbin cried. Chan really was too soft. He couldn’t say no to these boys; something he probably needed to work on.

 

“Ok ok ok I’ll go with you but just for an hour tops. Alright?” Chan propositioned. The two rappers smiled at each other, happy that the plan was running smoothly. They walked towards the coffee shop and found a table where Jisung finally detached himself from Chan. They ordered their drinks and fell into the comfortable armchairs which were placed around the shop. Jisung ended up ordering the drink as planned. Changbin was right though, he couldn’t stop Jisung from getting another one. Or another one. Or another one. Honestly, Chan was no help either. They talked about their day, though Chan didn’t mention his conversation with Seungmin. It wasn’t his place to tell them about that. After about a half hour, Chan’s eyes started to get heavy, the exhaustion starting to take over. Since he stopped talking, the others looked over at him and noticed he had dozed off. He looked so tired and the other boys were glad that he was getting some well deserved sleep though they knew it wouldn’t last long. They stayed like this for about an hour with Changbin and Jisung continuing the conversation without Chan. When he did wake up, Chan rubbed his eyes and apologised for falling asleep. The other two waved it off with a smile. Chan looked at his watch. Close to 3 p.m. He needed to go home and finish working so that’s what he told the other rappers. They left the shop and the boys headed in a different direction to Chan who went straight to the practice room to search for his belongings first.

 

He walked to the fourth floor practice room where he had been this morning. Luckily it was empty as he walked in. However, there was nothing inside. No charger for his laptop. No notebook filled with lyrics. What the hell was happening to him? Even though he had slept for an hour in the coffee shop, he may have felt more sleepy than he did before. With nothing for him in the practice room, he went to head back to the dorm when his phone vibrated. A message from Hyunjin popped up on his screen.

 

_Channie hyung. I’m not feeling so good. If you’re on your way home, would you mind picking up some medicine. There isn’t any at the dorm and there isn’t anyone else home at the moment. If you’re too busy, don’t worry about it. Thanks anyway - Hyunjin._

 

Hyunjin was sick? That wasn’t good. Not when they were this close to a comeback. He didn’t want Hyunjin performing if he wasn’t feeling well. That may be the most hypocritical thing he’s thought in a while seeing as he wasn’t feeling so hot himself at the moment. He walked swiftly out of the room and the building towards the pharmacy to pick up some pain medication for Hyunjin. He paid and basically ran straight to the dorm; ignoring the dizziness that was clouding his vision. He entered the silent dorm and headed to the Millenium room where he found Hyunjin alone in bed listening to music through his headphones. Chan quietly walked over and placed the bag beside the bed. Hyunjin opened his eyes as he felt a presence beside him and sat up.

 

“Hyunjinnie, how are you feeling? Are you alright?” Chan placed the back of his hand on Hyunjin’s forehead. He didn’t have a temperature which was good and also more than he could say for himself. He could feel the heat emanating from his own body and hoped the other wouldn’t notice due to the proximity.

 

“I just have a stomach ache hyung. It’s nothing serious. I wanted some medicine just in case. I don’t want the others to get sick because of me, that’s all.” Chan smiled at that. Hyunjin was such a considerate guy and cared for his members so much. He told Hyunjin he would be right back as he went to get a glass of water so that Hyunjin could take his medicine. As Chan left the room, Hyunjin had to applaud himself for his fine acting skills. He wasn’t sick, in fact he felt better than ever but if Chan was in here taking care of him, he wasn’t going to be in his room overworking himself again. Chan entered the room again with a glass of water for Hyunjin and handed him the medicine. Hyunjin smiled and took both from Chan. When Chan turned his head, Hyunjin hid the medicine under his pillow. He really didn’t want to take medicine when he wasn’t sick. Chan told the young rapper to lay down in his bed and try to get some sleep before he stood up. Hyunjin grabbed Chan’s sleeve before putting on his best pouty face.

 

“Channie hyung, will you stay with me until I fall asleep? I don’t want to fall asleep on my own.” Hyunjin’s puppy eyes were really a weakness for Chan. Before he could answer, he heard the door unlock and footsteps in the living room. Judging by the voices, Woojin and Minho had returned from wherever they were. Hyunjin tugged Chan’s sleeve again as if looking for a reply.

 

“Sure Hyunjin. Hyung will stay here until you fall asleep.” Chan cooed. Hyunjin grinned and then remembered he was supposed to be sick so he made a small grunt signifying the pain in his stomach was bothering him. He hated seeing Chan worry about him though even if there was nothing to worry about. Hyunjin took his sweet time pretending to fall asleep until he thought that Woojin and Minho might be ready with the next stage of the plan. While waiting for Hyunjin to fall asleep, Chan looked at the medication in the bag. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt if he took some too. His headache, which had diminished throughout the day was now starting to come back. So he took the glass Hyunjin had been using and drank the remaining water as he took the pills. He hoped that would help him feel somewhat better. Once he was sure Hyunjin was safe and asleep, he left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Before he could even walk towards his bedroom to search for his missing items, he was confronted by Minho which elicited a small yelp from Chan due to how quickly he appeared.

 

“Chan hyung!” Minho practically shouted. Chan shushed him and pointed towards the room Hyunjin was in.

 

“Hyunjin isn’t feeling well and he’s just after falling asleep so don’t you dare wake him up Lee Minho.” Chan’s protective dad mode had activated. Minho frowned first and then nodded in understanding. Minho knew full well that Hyunjin wasn’t sick and he probably wasn’t asleep either but he played along all the same.

 

“Well I just wanted to let you know that Woojin hyung just finished making dinner and a few of the others are just after coming back so let’s eat together, ok?” Minho smiled. Chan really didn’t have time. After taking care of Hyunjin, he lost a lot of time where he could have been working. Though his members health came first and he would rather take care of Hyunjin and make sure he was alright than work. Minho took advantage of Chan being lost in his thoughts and grabbed the elder’s arm before dragging him to the kitchen ignoring Chan’s protest. Upon entering the kitchen, Woojin gave a smile to both Minho and Chan though the smile had a very different meaning to both boys. Changbin and Jisung were setting the table while Jeongin was helping Woojin finish up with the cooking.

 

“Felix and Seungmin are on their way back from town. They’ll be here shortly.” Woojin told Chan without looking up. He knew that Chan was wondering where they were without him having to say anything. They were all close enough at this stage to be able to tell what the others were thinking. Minho made Chan sit at the table looking at the elder accusingly when Chan tried to stand back up. He slipped back down into his chair and accepted that he would be incapacitated for at least another hour. Felix and Seungmin walked through the door shortly after and sat at the table followed by all the other boys. Woojin left a plate of food for Hyunjin on the counter even though he was sure the other boy was probably wide awake.

 

The atmosphere around the table was comfortable as it always was when their team was together. Chan felt at ease while eating the food Woojin had so lovingly made. He hadn’t realised how hungry he was until he started eating. Besides the coffee he had with Changbin and Jisung, he hadn’t really eaten all day. He was grateful for someone else in the house who could cook besides himself. The table was filled with conversation and laughter even more so than it usually was. Chan sat back and fawned over his members. Seungmin and Felix looked to be in better spirits compared to this morning which he was glad about. He didn’t want to see them upset. He smiled and stayed silent for the rest of the dinner. He cleared his plate and sat back in his chair completely content. He was about to excuse himself to his room to finally finish his work when Minho grabbed him once again.

 

“Hyung, we’re going to watch _Hereditary_ together now. You’re going to join us right?” Minho asked with his chin resting on Chan’s shoulder. Ok now this is something Chan really didn’t have time for.

 

“Sorry Minho, I have to get back to my room. I’ve been so busy with everything else today, I haven’t had time to work.” _Shocking,_ Minho thought. _It’s almost like that’s exactly what we wanted to happen._ Minho wasn’t one for backing down though.

 

“Channie hyung, come on. Jisung, Felix and Jeongin are always terrified of horror movies and keep shouting but whenever you’re there they try to be tough so there would be a lot less screaming if you would watch it with us. Think of it as a bonding experience hyung. Come on. Come on, please?” Minho swayed from side to side, his chin never leaving Chan’s shoulder. Chan caved as he always did and agreed to watch the movie with the rest of his members along with Hyunjin who had emerged from his room with a bed head which showed the others that he had actually fallen asleep in the end.

 

The movie was decent with a surprising twist at the end, Chan thought but it wasn’t anything too scary. Though that didn’t stop the maknae line from screaming loudly every time there was a jumpscare which caused the older members to laugh at them with Minho pinching Jisung’s cheeks calling him cute. Once the movie was over, it was close to 11 p.m and Chan, being the father he was, ordered them all to go to bed though he would be doing no such thing. He needed to work on the song. The pain medication seemed to do its job as the headache he had earlier subsided and he didn’t feel as hot either. Once all the members returned to their rooms, Chan renewed his search for his missing items. He checked his room first but quickly realised they weren’t there and when Changbin had climbed into bed, Chan left so as not to disturb the young rapper (who was hugging Gyu close to his chest).

 

After another twenty minutes of searching the dorm, Chan was well and truly stumped. What was happening? How could he have lost something so easily? The charger could be replaced tomorrow and luckily the notebook was relatively new and he could pretty much remember what was written in this one. Maybe he should write it out again before he could forget them. He sat at the desk in the living room and just as he had the pen in his hand to begin, he felt a small hand on his shoulder. He turned to see the maknae looking at him with tears in his eyes. Chan stood up immediately enveloping Jeongin in a hug.  
  
“Innie what’s the matter? Why are you upset? Don’t cry ok? Please don’t cry.” Chan’s voice was laced with worry for the maknae. This wasn’t a part of the plan. The plan had ended with the movie. They had gotten Chan away from work all day and allowed him to relax a little bit. This however, was not a part of it.

 

“Hyung, I had a nightmare” Jeongin started, trembling slightly in Chan’s arms “I dreamt that you all debuted without me and you had no trouble leaving me behind. I was the only one. You were all walking away from me laughing and having a good time and I was left here all alone.” Jeongin sobbed into Chan’s shoulder as the leader rubbed small, comforting circles into the small boy’s back.

 

“Jeongin, you know we would never do that right? We all love you so much we would never leave you behind no matter what. You are an important part of this team and we wouldn’t be Stray Kids without you.” Chan swayed with the youngest with a small smile on his face.

 

“I k-know you w-wouldn’t. It just seemed so real in the dream.” Jeongin pulled away and wiped his eyes. He took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down which seemed to work. Chan was satisfied that the maknae was no longer upset.

 

“Ok then, try to get some sleep.” Chan ruffled Jeongin’s hair before the younger looked embarrassed.

 

“Hyung, can you lie with me for a while? Just like you did with Hyunjin earlier. Just until I fall asleep? Please?” Jeongin pleaded quietly with his leader. Whatever hope Chan had of saying no to the other members, he would never be able to say no to their lovely maknae.

 

“Ok Innie, lets go.” Chan draped an arm over Jeongin’s shoulders as they quietly walked into Jeongin’s room. The two boys lay down next to each other and Jeongin rested his head on his hyung’s arm while Chan pulled him closer to soothe the boy. Within minutes, Jeongin was fast asleep. Chan thought about detangling himself from the other but feared he might wake him up. He accepted his fate. He was stuck here for the night. Not that he was complaining as he was absolutely exhausted. Perhaps after sleeping for a few hours, he could get up and write out some lyrics. For now, he would sleep surrounded by his members.

 

* * *

 

 

When Chan woke up, the sunlight was streaming through the window. He stretched and groaned and realised that he was alone in the room. He rolled over and looked at the clock which read 8:30. Holy crap, Chan thought, he’d slept over 8 hours. He jumped out of the bed and jogged to the living room where he found all of the members eating breakfast.

 

“Good morning Channie, feeling better?” Woojin asked without looking away from the TV.

 

“Uh, yeah, I feel fine” Chan replied. It wasn’t a lie either. He felt so much better than he did yesterday. He felt revitalised and the fatigue that plagued him was now gone.

 

“Great, it looks like our plan worked then.” Jisung sang while Jeongin and Felix giggled at the dumbstruck look the leader now had plastered on his face.

 

“Wait, what plan?”

 

“The plan to get you to relax a little before you worked yourself to death.” Seungmin replied.

 

“We tried to distract you with our problems all day so that you wouldn’t be on that damn laptop overworking yourself. If you feel fine, then the plan obviously worked.” Changbin laughed.

 

Chan felt so stupid for not realising what had been going on all day yesterday. He had been so tired that something like this would have never crossed his mind.

 

“Ah also, your charger and notebook are over there on the desk. Just in case you got any ideas yesterday, Jeongin took them and I hid them in our room.” Felix stated while biting on a piece of toast.

“Oh my god I thought I was going crazy. No wonder I couldn’t find them!” Chan said nearly pulling out his hair. The rest of the group burst into hysterics with Seungmin and Hyunjin high fiving and Felix and Jisung punching their fists in the air.

 

This was Chan’s fault really. He had chosen each and every one of these idiots to join his group and he still couldn’t tell when they were up to something. It was so blatantly obvious and he didn’t see it. He growled in frustration.

 

“Oh my god I hate you guys so much. You made me think I was losing my mind!”

 

“Well it was worth it if you’re feeling better now. Also, I wasn’t sick but thanks for taking care of me hyung” Hyunjin grinned with a mouth full of cereal. Chan bowed his head as he made his way towards his room to get changed. He stopped half way and turned towards his members catching their attention.

 

“Thanks guys. Really. I feel a lot better.” Chan looked slightly embarrassed thanking his members when he was the leader who was supposed to be looking after them.

 

“No problem Channie. We don’t want to have to do this again. It was a lot of work. So please before you get to this point again, come to us and ask for help.” Woojin scolded. All the others nodded in agreement with a stern look on their faces. Chan laughed and looked down at the floor.

 

“Ok, I promise. It won’t happen again.” He didn’t know if that was a promise he could keep but it wouldn’t happen again anytime soon. The others went back to talking and Chan went to his room closing the door. It took him seven years to debut but now he thought that there might have been a reason for that. If it had been any earlier, he wouldn’t have debuted with his current members and they wouldn’t be the Stray Kids they are today. It made sense to him now why it had taken so long. He needed to wait to be the team they are now. He thought of how lucky he was to have friends - no, brothers - who cared about him the way the members did. He smiled to himself. They were his family and he wouldn’t trade them for the world.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading my first Stray Kids fic. I'm sorry if there are any mistakes. Comments and kudos are always appreciated. Thanks again. :)
> 
> My tumblr is @stray-anpanman if you ever want to say hi!


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